The Appellate Division unanimously affirmed Supreme Court's denial of Plaintiff's petition to vacate an arbitration award that found Plaintiff guilty of violating his employer's zero-tolerance policy for workplace violence and imposing a penalty of a 25-day suspension without pay.
The court rejected Petitioner's contention that the arbitration award was irrational because the arbitrator did not explain where Petitioner should have "should have retreated" from the confrontation as "the path of analysis, proof and persuasion by which the arbitrator reached [his] conclusion is beyond judicial scrutiny," citing Matter of New York State Correctional Officers and Police Benevolent Assn. v State of New York,94 NY2d 321.*
The Appellate Division also observed that the arbitration award did not violate public policy as there are "no public policy considerations which would prohibit an arbitrator from deciding if an employee should be disciplined for workplace violence or imposing a 25-day suspension for such violence."
* In Correctional Officers the Court of Appeals held that courts "are not authorized to revisit ... the arbitrator's assessment of the evidence ... or reasoning in fashioning the [arbitration] award".
Click HERE to access the Appellate Division's decision posted on the Internet.